


Bad Day in Court

by perry_avenue



Series: Finding My Voice - A Sweet DREAMers Blog [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, DACA, Immigrant Rights, Klaine, M/M, Sweet DREAMers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-26
Updated: 2015-11-26
Packaged: 2018-05-03 10:50:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5287853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perry_avenue/pseuds/perry_avenue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt blogs that Trump’s hallucinating, but he’s more concerned about a federal court ruling which could put the benefits his boyfriend Blaine and nearly one million other DACA-mented immigrants have at risk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bad Day in Court

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to my wonderful beta, [flowerfan ](http://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerfan/pseuds/flowerfan)
> 
> To view the actual blog on Tumblr, go to [ dreamingally.tumblr.com ](http://dreamingally.tumblr.com)

  
  
[ Source: The Dream Is Now Profile Picture](http://www.thedreamisnow.org/take-action)  


I was happy to see so many notes after my first post. Thanks so much! Hi to my new followers!!

RL has been crazy lately, so I’ve fallen a bit behind, but hope to catch up soon. This post is about things that happened in the second week of November. 

But before I go there, don’t even get me started about Trump hallucinating about seeing “thousands and thousands” of Muslims in New Jersey on TV cheering the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9/11 (debunked by New Jersey government leaders, fact-check websites, and members of the news media who covered the tragedy), followed by Ben Carson drinking Trump’s Kool Aid and claiming to have seen the same video (a statement he later retracted). They’re going to get a post all their own, just not today.

What I want to tell you about is something many people don’t know, a federal court ruling issued on November 9, 2015 that blocked an executive action issued by President Obama on November 20, 2014. The action would have extended deportation protections along with work authorization to a greater number of DACA-eligible immigrants (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). It would have given similar benefits to the parents of US citizens and permanent residents (DAPA- Deferred Action for Parents of Americans) who had been in the United States for at least five years and had no criminal records. It also included new procedures for legal immigration and naturalization.

A memorandum Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security, wrote to the directors of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection about the executive action, included the following statement:

_The reality is that most individuals in the categories set forth below are hard-working people who have become integrated members of American society. Provided they do not commit serious crimes or otherwise become enforcement priorities, these people are extremely unlikely to be deported given this Department's limited enforcement resources - which must continue to be focused on those who represent threats to national security, public safety, and border security._

_Case-by-case exercises of deferred action for children and long-standing members of American society who are not enforcement priorities are in this Nation's security and economic interests and make common sense, because they encourage these people to come out of the shadows, submit to background checks, pay fees, apply for work authorization (which by separate authority I may grant), and be counted._

Between four and five million people would have benefited from this executive action.

I want to hug Jeh Johnson, because he’s writing about immigrants like LoveOML, who has never done anything criminal in his entire life and wants to be a contributing member of U.S. society.

LoveOML and I talked about the executive action when it first came out in 2014. We had only been dating for about a month, and I was kind of naive about immigration issues then. He wasn’t optimistic about it going unchallenged, but President Obama had promised to take action on immigration through executive action if the Republican Congress refused to do so. 

I remember asking LoveOML if the new executive action would help him or his mom. Since he already has DACA benefits, his only gain would have been a three year renewable suspension of deportation and work authorization rather than two. It wouldn’t have helped his mom at all, because he’s neither a US citizen nor a US permanent resident. But it’s the big picture that counts. 

If the Executive Action had been implemented, it would have offered more than just expanding existing benefits for undocumented immigrants. It would have provided additional resources to law enforcement at our borders. It would have expanded immigration access for high-skilled immigrants, graduates, and entrepreneurs to stay and contribute to the U.S. economy. And it definitely would have helped many undocumented immigrants, by expanding the number eligible for stays of deportation and work authorization. 

A February 2015 New York Times article cited a study by the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California, San Diego, that looked at immigrants already approved for DACA benefits. The Times reported that according to the study, 79 percent of youths with deportation deferrals said they were earning more in better jobs, and gaining financial independence. Some 41 percent said they had returned to college after dropping out. They were eligible for social security numbers, so were able to open bank accounts, sign leases and mobile phone contracts in their own names, and pay income tax. They found stable housing and stayed there longer. It meant they had greater income, money they were spending in the state where they reside. So if more immigrants became eligible for DACA, they, and their states of residence, would benefit in similar ways.

But LoveOML was right not to be optimistic. Republicans accused Obama of abusing his executive authority, even though Presidents issue executive actions all the time. Attorneys general in 26 states challenged the executive action in federal court. In February 2015, before any new benefits could be granted, a U.S. District Court Judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction preventing the implementation of expanded DACA and new DAPA benefits. The judge ruled that allowing millions of illegal immigrants to remain lawfully in the United States would prove costly to the State of Texas, the lead plaintiff in the case. The judge also said the President should have allowed public comment before enacting the new immigration rules.

The administration filed an appeal with the federal district court in Texas to have the ban lifted. 

On May 26, 2015, the court refused to lift the ban. So, the administration sent it to the Federal Appeals Court. On November 9, they ruled 2-1 to uphold the ruling by the Texas federal judge that blocked the executive action. The Appeals Court found that the states had sufficient legal grounds to bring the lawsuit and that the administration had not shown that it would be harmed if the injunction remained in place and the programs were further delayed. Also denied was a request by the administration to limit the injunction to the states bringing the lawsuit. 

The same day, The Justice Department issued a statement that it would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. But no one knows yet if the Supreme Court will agree to hear the case. If they do, they might issue a ruling as early as this June (June 2016). But, even if it’s favorable, there will be only a few months left in Obama’s presidency to grant benefits before the new administration takes over the White House in January 2017. If the Republicans win the presidential election, the executive action on DACA -not this new expanded proposal, but the original one that has been in place since 2012, could be revoked.

If that happens, LoveOML and a million others who have benefited from DACA could lose their ability to work in the United States and risk deportation. I want to do everything I can to keep him safe, but I'm just one person. I sure could use the help of millions of voters who feel the same way I do about immigrant rights.

Tags: #immigrant rights #DREAMers

November 25, 2015  
11 notes

asianpersuasion reblogged this and added What he wrote!  
asianpersuasion liked this  
marcopolo reblogged this from livingthepinoylife and added Step right up, folks! Get your facts, get your references.  
marcopolo liked this  
sapphogoddess reblogged this from DREAMingAlly and added Here’s someone who’s done the research!  
sapphogoddess said: On your soapbox again? Good!  
queenislife reblogged this and added To the barricades!  
queenislife liked this  
socphd-geek liked this  
livingthepinoylife said: bb, should I be worried about how much this is stressing you?  
livingthepinoylife reblogged this from DREAMingAlly and added smart man saying smart things  
DREAMingAlly posted this

To learn more, read these:

[ Debunking Trump’s 9/11 Claims ](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/nyregion/a-definitive-debunking-of-donald-trumps-9-11-claims.html?_r=0)

[ Ben Carson On Remarks About 9/11 celebrations ](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/23/ben-carson-clarifies-remarks-on-muslims-celebrating-on-911/)

[ Transcript of President Obama’s November 20, 2014 Speech on Immigration Reform ](http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/20/politics/obama-immigration-speech-transcript/index.html)

[ For Immigrants, Fear Returns After a Federal Judge’s Ruling ](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/21/us/for-immigrants-fear-returns-after-a-federal-judges-ruling.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0)

[ Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Obama Administration re: extending benefits to parents of US citizens and permanent residents (DAPA) ](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/11/09/us/ap-us-immigration-lawsuit.html)

[ Appeals Court Deals Blow to Obama’s Immigration Plans ](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/10/us/politics/appeals-court-deals-blow-to-obamas-immigration-plans.html?ref=politics)

[ Obama to Appeal Immigration Ruling to the Supreme Court ](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/11/us/politics/supreme-court-immigration-obama.html?_r=0)

[ Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson’s Executive Action Memorandum ](http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_deferred_action.pdf)

[ Executive Actions on Immigration ](http://www.uscis.gov/immigrationaction)

**Author's Note:**

> Your comments are very important to me. I would love to hear from you!
> 
> For background information on the blog and the author, read the disclaimer  
> [ here. ](http://dreamingally.tumblr.com/post/133687263318/finding-my-voice-disclaimer)
> 
> This is Kurt’s second post. Here’s the [ link to his first one. ](http://dreamingally.tumblr.com/post/133687325228/finding-my-voice)
> 
> The discussion between Kurt and Blaine about the November 2014 Executive Action took place in  
> [ Chapter 26 ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3419171/chapters/9521472)of Sweet DREAMers


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